Hand-brake.



'1. F. ocomvon.

HANDBRAKL APPLICAflON FILED um. 13. ms.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 IN VENTOR.

Patented Apr. 24,1917.

J. F OCONNOR.

HAND BRAKE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN-13,!9I6.

Patented Apr. 24,1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

NVENTOR. F0 W ATTORNEY.

WITINESST'E UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN Il-IQOCONNOR, OF CHICAGO. ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T0 WILLIAM MINER. OF

1 CHAZY, NEW YORK.

HAN D-BRAKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apia-24, 1917.

To all w/w/n it may concern:

le it known that l. Jon); F. ()toxxon, a citizen of the l'nited States. residing at Chicago. in the countyot' Cook and State of lllinoirahavc invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Hand-Brakes. of which the following is a full, clear. concise. and exact description. reference being bad to the accom mnying drawings. forming a part of this specification. H

This invention relates to improvements in hahd brakes and more particularly to hand brakes for railway cars and other vehicles.

Objects of the invention are to provide a. hand brake for railway cars and other vehicles of simple construction. having few parts compactly arranged. which may be operated by-one hand. which is provided with automatically operated friction locking means. and which may be released by a hand lever.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a hand brake of the character above described. which does not employ any foot or hand operated locking pawls and which permits a brakeman at all times to have the use of one hand and both feet for supporting and steadying himself on the car.

The invention. furthermore. consists in the improvenu-nts in the parts and devices and in the novelcombinations of the parts and devices herein shown. described and claimed.

In the drawing forming a party of this.

specification. Figure l is an end elevation of a portion of a hopper car showing my improvements in connection therewith; Fig. 2 is an enlarged, vertical. sectional view taken substantially on the line .!2 of Fig. l and illustrating the. interior of the improved hand brake. Figs. if and are vertical, sectional views taken substantially on the lines 3-3 and 44 of Fig. 2, respectively. Fig. 5 is a detail, sectional view illustrating the friction clutch or locking means and taken substantially on the line 55 of Fig. -l. And Fig. (i is :1V detail view illustrating a different embodiment of the invention.

Referring to Figs. 1 to inclusive, H) denotes the. end wall of the car to which my improved hand bralce A is attached; and 1t designates the chain for operating the brakes.

The brake mechanisn'i proper. as shown, comprises a base casting 12 and a shell or casing 13. each of said members being pro vided with a plurality of flanges 141-L by which the same are adapted to besecured to the car as by rivets 15. The chain 11 is at tached at its upper end by a rivet 0r bolt 16 to a winding drum or windlass 17 which is rotatable about a horizontal axis, said drum or winding member 17 having integral. trunnions 1S and ltl'at each end. the trunnion 18 being mounted in a suitable hub or hearing :20 formed on the outer face of the shell or casing A. The trunnion 19 is mounted in a shiftable or rocka'ble bearing 21 which is formed in a lever .ZZ'having a rounded end .23 rockably mounted in a similarly shaped lug or projection 24 formedon the inner face of the base casting 12, see Fig. l. The drum casting 17 has preferably t'ormed integrally therewith a ratchet or cog wheel 25. the latter being spaced midway between the outer end of the drum 17 and the trunnion 18. whereby enlarged bear: ings 2(i.2(3 may he formed integrally with the drum casting on opposite sides of the ratchet wheel 25. see Fig. 2. The ratchet wheel 25 is provided with suitable teeth on its periphery with which is adapted to 00- ingly shaped recess 31 formed on the lower,

The

end of an oscillatable hanger 3L2.

hanger 3:2 is provided with upwardly extending. hook shaped. forked extensions 33 which are adapted to be hooked over and rest upon said bearings 2(32t' on opposite sides of the ratchet wheel 25. The normal. position of the hanger 3:2 and the perating lever 28 is as shown ill Fig. 3. where it will be noted the operating lever is disengaged from the wheel 25.

At its innenend, the winding drum 17 is provided with one element of a friction clutch in the. form of adisk iK-l having a beveled peri. hery :33 which is adapted to cooperate with a corresponding V shaped groove $36 in afixed friction clutch member or ,t'riction shoe 37 which is in the form of an integral. sector shaped projection formed on the inner face of the base casting 12. A manually operated release lever :58 is provided. the same being formed integrally 'trunnionlfi) of the winding drum.

with the rockable lever bearing member 22, as clearly appears in Figs. 2 and 4.

The bottom of the casing 13 is provided with a suitable opening 39 to permit-the entrance of the chain 11, as appears from. Fig. 2. As clearly shown in Fig. 4, the members 12 and 13 are suitably recessed as indicated at 40 and 4:1 to permit oscillation of the lever 38 and the casing 13 is also provided with a. suitable opening 42 to permit the proper manipulation of the operating lever 28 and hanger 32. The drum 17 is provided with a suitable helical groove 43 to accommodate the chain. as it is Wound thereon and said drum is also provided with an integralflange a l to properly deflect the chain as the winding is started and pre vent it from interfering witl'i'the operating mechanism.

The OQQl'fitlOnlS as follows: The brakeman standing on the end ladder of the car pulls on the operating lever 28 thereby rocking it on the hanger 32 and engaging the teeth '27 with the teeth of the wheel 25. As the oscillation is continued, the lever 28, hanger 32, ratchet wheel "25.- winding drum 1? and disk 34: will be rotated until the lever 28 is prevented from further rotation by engaging the casing 13 at the upper edge of the slot 42. lhe brakeman then may either release the lever and. thereby permit it to all back to normal position or may return the same positively and again impart a partial rotation to the winding drum, repeating these operations as necessary to ellect the proper tensioning of the chain 11. Since tension is placed upon the chain 11 by the winding operation above described, it is apparent that the winding drum 1? will be pulled downwardly and hence the friction disk 3- Will be operatively engaged with the stationary friction shoe 3? whereby the nrum and chain is automatically locked, as Will be understood. When it is desired to release the chain, the brakeman pulls the release lever '38, thereby rocking the lever 22 and shifting the inner This effects the disengagement of the friction disk from the f 'ietion. shoe 37, thereby instantly releasing Hie chain.

From tie preeeding description, it will be noted that there are no projecting parts which could hit the hrakeman suddenly during the release since all the parts are concealedwith the exception of the operating levcrtZS, and th latter will, of course, remain idle during the release action. Furthermor i, it will. he noted that there is comparatively'little Wear on the bearing surfaces between the hanger 32 and bearings 26 since n the Wmdm' o eraaon there is no relative movement thercbetween and on the return of the hanger 32 and lever to normal, there is no friction except that incident to the mere weight of said parts. It will also be seen that theln'akeman employs only one hand in either windingthe chain or in releasing it. thus per- Initting him to steady himself edectively on the car and promoting his safety.

As will be understood by those skilled in the art, the effectiveness of the friction clutch arrangement may be varied by either.

will produce a similar result and vice versa.

Referring to the modification shown in Fig. (3, 132 represents a hanger similar to the hanger 32 and 128 the operating lover. The latter, instead of being provided with a tooth or pawl, is provided with a cam 11 which is adapted to engagethc plain periphery ot' the wheel 125. The operation will be readily understood from the prior description of the structure shown in the preceding figures. I e

Although I hae herein shown and dcscribcd what I now consider the preferred means of carrying out my invention. the

same are merely illustrative since it -is-ol)- vious that various changes and modifica tions may be made in the details of con-l structlon withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention, and all. such changes and modifications are contemplated as come' within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim.

1. In a brake of the character described, the combination with a chainwlnding member, of an operating lever for winding a chain upon said member, said-lever being normally disengaged from'said member, a

friction clutch associated with said meInher and adapted to automatically lock the same, and means for releasing-the clutch.

2. In a brake of the character described, the combination-With a chain Winding member, and means for operating said member,

her to hold it in locked position, and means, separate from the first namedw'means, for releasing said clutch.

3. In a brake of the character described,

the combination witha chain Winding member, and means for operating said member,

I of a friction clutch cooper-able with said memof a friction clutch cooperable with said member to hold it in locked position, and a release lever for disengaging the clutch elements.

4. In a brake of the character described,

the combination with a chain winding memher, and means for operating said member to tighten the chain, of a friction element movable in unison with said member, a stationary friction element cooperable therewith, said elements being actuated to frictional locking engagement by tension on the chain when the same is tightened, and means, separate from the first named means for disengaging said friction elements to release the chain.

In a brake of the character described, tliectn'ibination with a chain winding member. an automatically operating friction means associated therewith for locking the same when the chain is tightened, and separate and individually operated levers, One for rotating said member to tighten the chain and the other for releasing the friction means.

13. In a hand brake for cars orother vehicles, the combination with a brake chain, and a horizontally arranged brake chain winding member, of a friction wheel on said member, and a stationary friction shoe with which the friction wheel is held in frictional engagement by the tension of the brake chain.

7. In a hand brake for cars orother ve hicles, the. combination with a brake chain, and devices for placing said chain under tension, of a friction clutch coopeiable with v said devices to automatfcally hold the chain in taut condition, and means, separate from said devices, for r leasing said friction clutch.

8. In a brake for cars or other vehicles, the combination with a brake chain, of a movable member adapted to pull and tighten said chain, of autoniatimilly operating friction means associated with said member for holding'the chain taut, and separate and individually operated levers, one for moving said member to tighten the chain and the other for releasing the friction means.

9f In a brake. of the character described, thecombination with a member for pulling on a brake chain, and devices for holding said member in locked position, of means for operating said member, said means including a rotatable wheel, a mamially operated lever adapted to engage said wheel, and a hanger to which said lever is detachably pivoted, said hanger being detachably hooked over a support rotatable with said wheel.

10. In a brake of the character described, the combination with a. member adapted to pull on a brake chain. and means for operating said member, of a fixed friction element, a second friction element coiiperable therewith and movable in unison With said member, said friction elements automati-.

cally locking when the chain under tension, and means for disengaging the friction elements to release said member, said means including a shiftable bearing for said memher and a release lever for moving said bear- .ing and thereby said member with said fricother vehicles having a member rotatable about a horizontal axis for tightening a chain, of means for rotating said member, said means including a normally depending operating lever normally inoperative with respect to said member, and a normally depending supporting member mounted on and carried by said rotatable member, said operating lever being pivoted to said supporting member.

13. In a hand brake for railway cars and other vehicles, the combination with a r0- tatable member adapted to pull and tighten the brake chain, of means for rotating said member, said means including a wheel fixed to said member, a hanger detachably hooked over bearings formed integral with said member, and an operating lever detachably pivotally connected to said hanger, said lever having means for engaging said wheel whereby, as said lever is pulled it engages said wheel and oscillates the latter, the hanger, wheel, and lever traveling in unison.

14. In a hand brake for cars and other vehicles. the combination with a chain tensioning member, and means for rotating the latter, of automatically operating friction means forlocking said member, said means including a friction disk arried by said member,- a' shiftable bearing for said member, and a stationary friction element cooperable with said friction disk, and a lever for shifting said bearing to thereby disengage the friction disk from the stationarygage the friction disk from the stationary friction element, said lever being formed iiitegrally with said shiftable bearing.

16. 'In a hand brake for/railway cars and tach-ably pivoted to said h'anger and adapt- .ed toIcoiiperate witli said wheel to rotate the drum when the lever is pulled in one direction, and a release lever for shifting said shiftable bearing to thereby disengage the friction disk from the stationary friction shoe.

17. In a hand b 'ake for railway cars and other vehicles, the combination with a base plate having a stationary friction shoe, of a movable bearing member supported by said base plateca casing having a bearing therein,

a Chitin winding drum having trunnions at its ends mounted respectively in said shiftablebearing and the bearing in the casing, a friction wheel movable in unison with said drum, said friction wheel being adapted to coiipe ate with said stationary friction shoe, a wheel movable in drum, a hanger hooked over bearings formed integrally with said drum, an operating 1ever detach-ably pivoted to said hanger and adapted to cooperate with said wheel to rotate the drum when the lever is pulled in one direction, and a release leverfor shifting said shift-able bearing to thereby disengage the friction disk from the stationary friction shoe, said release lever being formed integrally with the shiftable bearing.

18. In a hand brake for railway cars and unison with said other vehicles, the combination with a 'base plate having; a stationary friction shoe, of a movable bearing member supported by said base plate. a casing: having a bearing therein, a chain winding; drum having trunnionsat its ends mounted respectively in said shiftable bearing and the bearing in the casing,

a friction wheel movable in unison with said drum. said friction wheel bein; adapted to cooperate with said stationary friction shoe, a wheel movable in unison with said drum, a hanger hooked over bearings formed integrally with said drum. an operating lever detachably pivoted to said hanger and adapted to cooperate with said wheel to rotate the drum when the lever is pulled in one direction, and a release lever for shifting said shiftable bearing to thereby disengage the friction. disk from the stationary friction shoe, said hanger bein forked and straddling said wheel.

19. In a brake of the character described, the combination with a member adapted to pull and tighten a brake chain, and means for operating said member, of alixed friction element, a second movable friction element cooperal'ile applied to said movable friction element through the instrumentality of said member to thereby force the movable friction element into tight engagement with the fixed friction element when the chain is under tension,

and means for releasing said friction elements including, a shift-able support associated with said member to relieve the pressure therefrom on the movable friction element, and a release lever for shifting the position of said support.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name this 10th day of January, 1916:

JOHN F. 0*oonnon. 

